Water mixing valve



Aug 8, 1950 w. c. RENNE 2,518,182

WATER MIXING VALVE y ug. 8, 1950 w. c. RENNI- WATER MIXING VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 14, 1946 said front wall. Contained in said bearing member about shaft |58 is a packing ring 80, which is compressed by packing gland 82 and packing nut 84 to prevent leakage of water between said shaft and said bearing member.

Included in vertical passageway 40 of valve body 32 below shaft 68 is a check valve disc 16, which in conjunction with valve seat 18 formed integrally with valve body 32 acts to allow the ow of water through passageway 40 in the downward direction only. The stem 86 of said valve disc extends downwardly therefrom and is slidably carried at its lower end in bearing 88 formed integrally with valve body 32. Valve disc 16 is urged upwardly toward the closed position by helical spring S0. Thev open lower end of passageway 40 below check valve 16 is slotted to provide easy iow of water from said passageway into housing I0.

Carried in housing lil behind valve body 32 is avertically disposed circular disc 82, said `disc having lugs 94 formed at its opposite edges, said lugs in turn being firmly fastened to lugs 86 formed `integrally with side walls I2 and I4 of housing I0.

An expandible bellows S8 is firmly attached to the forward side of disc 82, and a similar bellows is attached to the rearward side of said disc. Said disc forms a common'wall between said bellows, and a watertight seal is maintained between the disc and each bellows by gaskets |02. Rigidly attached to the movable face of each ofy said bellows, and extending outwardly past the edges of said faces, are flat bars |04. The extended ends of said bars are rigidly connected by bolts |06, as shown in Figures 1 and 3. Said bars and connecting bolts cause said bellows to expand and contract simultaneously. When either-bellows is expanded, the other must contract an equal amount.

. Rigidly attached to bar |04 attached to bellows 98 at substantially the mid-point thereof is a forwardly extending horizontal rod |08, pivotally'connected at its forward end with horizontal crank arm I|8 of vertical shaft IIZ. Said shaft is oscillatably carried by valve body 32, extending vupwardly into said valve body and having its upper end pivotally carried in a recess 4 provided therefor in cap 34 of said valve body. Longitudinal movement of said shaft is prevented by stop collar H3. A crank arm ||6 is rigidly fixed to shaft ||2 within said valve body, and extends horizontally forward therefrom. At its forward end said crank is pivotally connected to one end of a link IIB extending horizontally at L right angles to said crank, the oppositev end of said link being pivotally connected to floating shaft 62." f

Immediately beneath bellows 88 and .|00 a plate |20 having a plurality of perforatioiis |22 formed therethrough, extends horizontally across housing I0, forming a chamber, |24 in the lower portion of said housing between said perforated plate and housing cover 22. Within said chamber, a horizontal support member |26 firmly attached to side walls I2 and I4 of housing |0, supports at its mid-point a bearing |28, the lower end of a small tube |30 is supported for oscillation in said bearing. Said tube extends vertically upward through hole |32 in perforated plate |20 and through hole |34 passing through thev center of disc 82 parallel to the plane of said disc. The upper end of said tube extending past said disc is bent toform a downwardly projecting nozzle |36 in spaced apart relationship with the body portion of said tube. Said nozzle extends downwardly into a recess |38 in the edge of disc 82, as shown in Figure 5. Downwardly divergent holes |40 and |42 in disc 82 interconnect recess |38 with the interiors of bellows 98 and respectively. Said holes are so disposed that the disc forms a knife edge |44 between the upper ends of said holes. Longitudinal movement of tube l30through disc 92 is prevented by stopcollar |40;

A tube |46 is fixed in bearing |28 and communicates with tube |30 by means of a passageway |50, as shown in Figure 2. Tube |46 extends along cover 22 of housing I0 to a point adjacent front wall I8 of said housing, and

thence extends upwardly through hole |52 in perforated plate |20 and is interconnected at its upper end with mixing chamber 36 of valve body 32. Water iiowingy from said mixing chamber into said tube passes throughy strainer screen |54 andrspring loaded check valve |56 carried byvalvebody 32. Said check valve permits the' ow of water from mixing chamber 36 into tuber |46, but prevents iiow in the reverse directionT A spiral bimetallic element |58 is disposed horizontally in chamber I 24,'the inner end of said, elementbeing connectedrigidly to tube, |30 between bearing |28 and perforated plate |20, as

shown in Figures 2 and 4, and the outer endy and said bearing member. A setting handle |12I is rigidlyconnected to the forwardly projecting end ofV shaft |62. Saidv handle projects upwardly along front wall I8 of housing I 0, terminating in an indicator point/'|14 which may be manually moved to any point on a temperature' scale |16 carried by front wall I8 of housing |0,

as shown in Figure 1.

Operation of the mixing valve is substantially as follows. Handle |12 is manually set to the. mark on scale |14 which indicates the temperature desired. 'Shaft |62 is thus rotated, and through crank arm |60 causes bimetallic element |58 to turn. Said bimetallic element in turn rotates tube |30 in bearing |28 and causes nozzle |36 at the upper end of said tube to ,be positioned over either hole |40 or |42 of disc 92. If the temperature of the water desired is higher than that of the bimetallic element, the nozzle will be positioned over hole |40. If water of a lower temperature than that of thebimetallic element is desired, the nozzle will bepositioned over hole |42.

Handle 12 is manually turned through onehalf of a revolution. Shaft 68, thus rotated, turns crank armv 66 to its lower position, and floating shaft 62, connected to said crank arm by link 64, will be pulled downwardly. Valves 50 and 56, connected to said floating shaft by means of valve stems 52 and 58, will thus be forced downwardly from their seats, and hot and cold water will ow through passageways 38 into mixing chamber 36, downwardly through passageway 40, through check valve 16, into housing |0, downwardly through perforatedA plate |20 into chamber |214 where it surrounds bimetallic eleagregame sii " t-hef same;timeL water' flows'jA from mixing chamber 36 through screen |541?l check valve l l 55;

ina clockwise direction andIpositioning@A nozzle! |36 over holeeljllilfirrgdism92m Theejetfrom nozzle |36 will ,thus exert a slight pressure on thevwater tlontsd in. bellows 98. Bellpws 9,3 and, |1105 Vare Ilfjl'ld with'water 'at `all'A times; "The forceiexerted by said ,jetwill be'greatly' amplied due i-to' the great 'difference -between 'the iareatof the'jfet Jand thefarea ofi' the 'bellowsf Said' bellows willthus be`expanded; saidexpansion', through rodilth crank HQ, shaft ||2, crank H6, and link HB, will cause oating shaft 62 to be moved to the left. Valve 5t will thereby be opened more widely and valve 56 will be simultaneously closed by an equal amount, thereby supplying more'hot water andy less cold water to the mixing chamber. As the hotter mixture reaches chamber |24 and surrounds the bimetallic element, said element will be caused to contract, turning tube |38 in a counter-clockwise direction, thus moving nozzle Hit toward hole |42. When the water passing over the bimetallic element has reached the desired temperature, the nozzle will be centered over knife edge |44 between holes |40 and |42, and since equal pressure will then be exerted on the water contained in both bellows, no movement will occur and the settings of valves |50 and |56 will be fixed.

When the temperature of the water passing over the bimetallic element rises above the temperature for which handle |12 is set, the action is reversed, the bimetallic element turning tube |30 in a counterclockwise direction to position nozzle |36 above hole |42, thus exerting pressure on the water contained in bellows |00, the expansion of said bellows acting through the above described linkage to move oating shaft 62 to the right, thus opening cold water valve 56 and closing hot Water valve 50.

Since the movable ends of bellows 98 and |05@ are rigidly connected by bars |04 and bolts |055, when one bellows is expanded the other must contract. The water expelled from the contracted bellows through hole |40 or hole |42 is discharged into housing Ii). When the contracted bellows is next expanded, the water necessary a-is disharfged-from sais chamber: 'p1 w23-'f ,Warewashing v enly "distributed over the bini-etallicf' Aele-+- mixing'valve mayfbefattacliedf; housinrg-l |10 willi` partially'illy `with fwater; trapping apocketf'offair. underI slight" pressurel in the upper' portion '.1 off housing |62 This pressure 'might interferewith-L the free'fow'of lthej et fromfinozzlef 36?; Fioritlfiisrv reason,v spring 9|!l urging ch'eck` valve disc7 it* I tward 'the closed 'po'sitionlmust be of!y afl strength` roL to iill it is supplied by the jet from nozzle |35.

Whenever the pressure in either hot or the cold water supply pipes fails completely, the valve in the other supply pipel will be closed completely, thus protecting the user of the valve against extremes of temperature. For instance, if the pressure in hot water supply pipe 42 fails completely, shaft 62 will be moved farther and farther to the left by the action described above until valve 5U is wide open and valve 56 is completely closed. The samek action will occur whenever the temperature of the hot water supply falls below that for which handle |12 is set, or when the temperature of the cold water supply exceeds said set temperature. Since nozzle |36 is retained in recess |38 of disc 92, it is prevented from overtraveling holes |40 andl42.

Due to the restriction to flow offered by perforated plate |20 and by the fixture to which the to'insufre at fall' times "a suicient pressure -di'ilerei enti'alb'etween lval1ve-bodr- 32 :and housing fl''t'oi cause the jet to owfreely: y y Check valve 16 andi" check valve |56 also"l serve asf' saietydevices preventing-the possibleI suctionofl contaminated -u'fater`A into the supply lin'e'srr case a vacuumsliouldfform in saidfsupplyflinesi *I dai-m5 g l. l.' A mixingvalve-comprisinga-h'ousing cont.A

of said? chambers 'liavingr an inlet forffh'ot water and, an; inlet for `cold waten a valve ',fcontroll-ng each o'saidl inlets, means` interconnectingx rsaidinletvalves whereby-'as *onel valve is open the other valve is closed, a mixing chamber for said hot and cold water, and means for diverting a portion of the water from said mixing chamber to form a jet within the second of said chambers, said second chamber containing a pair of expansible bellows, means interconnecting said bellows whereby when one bellows is expanded the other bellows is contracted, a thermostatic element carried in the third of said chambers, means operable by said thermostatic element for directing said jet selectively into said expansible bellows, and means operably connecting said bellows to said valves, whereby said valves 'are moved to supply a flow of water at a substantially uniform temperature.

2. A mixing valve comprising a housing, a valve body contained in said housing, said valve body having an inlet for cold water and an inlet for hot water, a valve member controlling each of said inlets, seats for said valve members, said valve members being connected so as to move simultaneously, manual means for causing said v-alve members to open or close simultaneously, means for causing said valve members to move in opposite directions whereby one of said inlets is opened and the other of said inlets is closed, and means for diverting a portion of the water from said valve body to form a jet within said housing, two expansible bellows contained in said housing, said bellows each having an opening into said housing, said openings being adjacent each other and having a knife edged partition therebetween, a thermostatic element contained within said housing whereby said jet is directed in variable proportions into said bellows through said openings, and means operably connecting said bellows to said valve members whereby said valve members are moved in opposite directions to control said hot and cold water inlets.

3. A mixing valve comprising a housing, a valve body contained within said housing, said valve body having an inlet for hot water and an inlet for cold water, a valve controlling each of said inlets, a mixing chamber for said hot and cold water having an outlet into said housing, a spring loaded check valve -controlling said outlet whereby a pressure diierential is maintained between said mixing chamber and said housing, a nozzle carried in said housing, means for diverting a portion of the water from said valve body through said nozzle in a jet, two expansible bellows carried in said housing, a bimetallic thermostat carried in said housing and over which said mixture of ho-t and cold water flows, means operable by said bimetallic thermostat whereby said jet isseleotively directed into said bellows thereby expanding said bellows, means operably connecting said bellows with said inlet valves whereby one of said valves is opened and the other of said valves is moved toward the closed position, and manual means for adjusting said bimetallic thermostat whereby the relative openings of said valves are regulated to provide a water mixture at any predetermined temperature.

4. lIn a water mixing valve of the classdescribed having a valve body carried in a housing and opening into said housing, the combination with two valve members controlling respectively hot and cold water inlets to said valve body, seats for saidy valve members, and stems for said valve members, said stems being convergent Iand pivotally connected at their point c-f convergence to a oating shaft, of a manually operable means for moving said floating shaft in a direction bisecting the angle between said stems whereby said valve REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Numberv Name Date 1,476,718 Leonard Dec. 11. 1923 1,869,663 Cartier Aug. 2, 1932 2,193,581 Clokey Mar. 12, 19404 2,214,147 Scott Sept. 10, 1940 2,449,766 Brown Sept. 21, 1948 

